Hit Me, Cupid!

ღ Three: Cursing and Cussing are for Cupid

Scribble.

    I’d been scribbling for thirty minutes, trying to ignore the irritating look of Eros. I refuse to believe that he was Cupid. Cupids didn’t exist. He was probably joking; He and I had never met before.

    But then again, his unnerving stare was starting to frighten me. He also tried his best to keep as much distance as possible between us. Why was he doing this?

    Mr. Hariet was babbling around about the history of Greeks and such. He informed us that we’d be completing a project that required a lot of drawing. Hopefully, I’d end up with Lexie again, since she and I were great doing this kind of thing together. And we were also not allowed to be touched by anyone else, thanks to the overprotective Ach.

    “Now, I want you all to pay attention here. This time we’ll be working with the Gods from Greek mythology. For example, you and your partner have picked Zeus. The task at hand is to learn everything about this particular deity, then to present everything you know three months from now. Failure to complete the task will result in an immediate fail. Is that understood?” Mr. Hariet explained to the entire class.

    The jocks were simply laughing and horsing around, a couple of them groaning, “Whatever.” It wasn’t like the jocks cared about their grades. The only thing school-related they cared about were football and their reputation.

    “We’ll start by your last names. Adamson, come here!” Mr. Hariet gestured William Adamson to come to the front, where he picked a name from the bowl. William must have been devastated, judging by the look of despair on his face.

    “Jenkins. Albert Jenkins," he muttered. William was one of the people who cared so much about his grades, and Albert was a goof who didn’t work too hard in class.

    Albert stood up and hugged William, then snorting back a sneeze. Ugh.

    “I’m sure we’ll do well, Willy Wonka!”

    Well, that’s too bad for him, I thought sourly. I had very good luck, so I was sure I would get Lexie again.

    “I trust you are in good hands, Jenkins.” Mr. Hariet gave him a dark look before proceeding to the next last names. “Callisto.”

    Three more names came along before Mr. Hariet finally called my last name. “Hastings!”

    I stood up and brushed past by Eros. Surprisingly, I felt the thick tension of air wrapping around us. There was a static electricity between us, albeit we didn’t even touch each other. I froze and he tensed. My eyes glanced upon him. He placed his arms on the table while he scowled at me, his worry lines increasing in intensity the longer I stayed in place. Eros’ eyes were glaring at me. The stupid, lovesick part of me thought his icy blue eyes were beautiful.

    Seeing as I had no choice but to move, I gritted my teeth and forced myself to walk. I went to the transparent bowl and let my hand roam around, searching for Lexie’s last name.

    Jackson. Please let me have Jackson. I pleaded mentally, Lexi Jackson, please.

    It was as if I was in a cult and my whole future would change, depending on whose name was written on the slip of paper. I was about to open it and read out the name, but a voice suddenly interrupted the class.

    “Ah, sorry for being late, I was busy making out with Chessily.”

    Mr. Hariet sighed. “First day of senior year and you’re late, Mr. Austin Santiago.”

    Austin smirked. “Better to be late than not to have attended at all.”

    “Take your seat before I give you your very first detention of the year.”

    “Gladly.” Austin laughed out loud and went to sit amongst his group of jocks. They all howled and sneered in amusement.

    “Please, tell me who your partner will be.” Mr. Hariet turned his attention to me, adjusting his thick-framed glasses as he said so.

    I slowly unrolled the paper and almost dropped my jaw. What the actual hell?

    “It’s. . . Santiago,” I croaked out.

    When Austin heard it, he stood up and went towards me. He towered over me and hugged me tightly, “Oh, would you look at that! We’re going to be partners.” Then slowly he whispered in my ear, “You’re going to pay for what you did, Hastings.”

    Just then, Austin’s pants loosened up, embarrassing himself. Austin looked so shocked he kicked some tables before disappearing outside, consumed with laughter.

    When I returned to my seat, I saw Eros making a satisfied smile. Already, the girls were all swooning at him. I was struck with sudden realization.

    “Eros,” I called him. Hearing his name caused him to perk up, scanning the room for the voice who called his name.

    He snapped his attention towards me and I couldn’t help but take a breath. He was really something to look at.

    “What?” he replied, schooling his expression.

    “What the hell is your problem?” I angrily demanded.

    “If you would have helped me on breaking our fates, then maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”

    “What fates?”

    Eros laughed darkly.

    “Don’t act like you don't know. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

    “I don’t!”

    He shifted on his seat and leaned in close to me, close enough to feel his minty warm breath caressing my face. “Do you feel that? It’s the f*****g seal of the fate. I am Cupid. You will want to be with me, and I can’t just do that. Help me or this will continue.”

    “What will continue?” I raised an eyebrow at him, trying to look unaffected by the tingling.

    Eros was intimidating. He was making me fantasize things I never did before. “This. I’ll interfere with everything. You’ll no longer be able to date because of our fate. I am possessive of what I have, but that doesn’t mean I like you nor do I feel any feelings towards you.”

    “And if I don’t help you?”

    Eros moved his hands to mine, tightly clasping it and circling his thumb across the back of my hand. He gave me an expressionless look. “I’ll make you fall more and more in love with me.”

    Taken aback, I almost lost my footing. Did he really think that he can manipulate me? “What? Don’t you hate me?”

    “I do,” he confirmed with a nod. “After that, I’ll break your heart into a thousand tiny little pieces. Once you’re head over heels in love with me, I’ll break up with you. I’ll make your heart suffer and you’ll be unable to move on. The bond between an immortal and mortal is stronger than other bonds.”

    My stomach did back flips. Just at that moment, I could already feel my heart slipping away from my grasp. How could he be such a jerk?

    Cupids didn’t exist. I tried to convince myself. But no, they might actually exist. Just as this crazy guy was telling me.

    I pulled away from his sensuous touch. I flinched when he once again shot me an annoyed look. He pushed his chair away from me before laying back with the girls ogling at his dark and mysterious yet sensual appearance.

    “I won’t help you,” I whispered, though I was sure he heard it.

    Eros seemed to be bored when he replied, “Do whatever you want.”

    A crunched paper hits me on my head. I glanced at the person who smacked me with it and saw Lexie giving me a stare that screamed read it or else.

    What’s up with you and sexy hottie Eros over there, being all, erotic and stuff?

    -L

    I tore a piece of paper from my notebook and quickly jotted down a reply.

    Please stop it, Lexie. We were just talking about the new project.

    I returned it back to her and ignored her for the rest of the class. My mind was already killing me for having to be partnered up with Austin and his pants – that must have been Eros’ doing. Why would he even do that? Could he have been jealous of Austin? But he already made it clear that he hated me. He made the mistake; why did he hate me?

    The bell rang, signaling the end of History. I slung my bag on my shoulder and went side by side with Lexie when someone pulled me. I felt myself crash into a hard, rigid body.

    Lexie and I both turned around to see Eros. “Lexie?”

    “Yes?” she stuttered, clearly hypnotized by Eros’ eyes. He was, after all, Cupid.

    “Do you mind me taking her for a while?” Eros used his silken rich voice that made me almost stumble around. He caught me just in time; I knew he was beyond pissed.

    “No, not at all.” Lexie grinned and nudged me to go with Eros.

    With that, Eros took me to the near-empty field. All the students had long evacuated to go to their next class. The wind caught speed and brushed between us. Eros led me down the other side and we sat on one of the benches.

    “What do you want?” I bluntly asked him.

    “At least help me do my job.”

    “No.”

    “How about a deal?”

    “No.” I firmly stood my ground and walked away, “I’m done here, okay? You screwed up your archery or whatever. You want out? Do this on your own. I don’t know why you blame me.”

    When I peeked at him, he had a hard stance.

    “You and I are not done," he said coldly, disappearing into the clearing.

    I shook my head. "We've never even started."